Eighteen days into the transfer window and Blues have made one ‘new’ signing - winger Will Buckley on a month-long loan deal.

Having listened to manager Gary Rowett talk at length about money being available and the confirmation that players would be signed, many fans are now feeling underwhelmed and apprehensive at our lack of action in the window.

Whilst it was good to get James Vaughan signed up quickly, he was a player already at the club.

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Buckley’s arrival was welcome as the sale of crown jewel Demarai Gray has so far threatened to be the overriding memory of a window of false dawns and a squad weaker than when it opened.

For all of Rowett’s obvious credentials, his efficiency in the transfer market has so far been open to scrutiny.

His evident reluctance to commit to the deal for Diego Fabbrini saw us miss out on his summer acquisition and the signings of Shane Lowry and Greg Halford appear, on the face of things, to have been panic buys as transfer and loan windows closed.

The lack of activity so far hints to a culture of caution from Rowett.

Maikel Kieftenbeld celebrates his winning goal

Birmingham City's Nicolai Brock-Madsen

Two of his signings - Maikel Kieftenbeld and Nicolai Brock-Madsen - were not seen in the flesh by him before they signed.

One has been a success whilst the other has so far looked off the pace, but could hopefully come good.

The fact that it was the Dane who cost £500k seems to have made Rowett cast doubt once more. Had it been the other way round, would he have backed his judgement a little more?

With that in mind, the arrival of somebody whose sole role it is to secure the targets that Rowett had evidently drawn up in December could help lessen the burden a little.

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As we all know, Blues have limited resources so it is important the pot is spent wisely, but this fear of getting in a dud appears to have taken over.

Managers will always get signings wrong, such is the nature of the game, but the likes of Brock-Madsen ticked lots of correct boxes and it is hard to criticise him for taking that plunge.

It’s hard to imagine Rowett assenting to extra help and handing over some control but if it meant we did not end up with Greg Halford again then it would be worth considering.